A Chemistry Public Lecture for RSC Chemistry Week to celebrate the International Year of Light 2015: "Shedding a Light on the Durham Gospels: a Spectroscopic Study of Medieval Pigment Use" Dr Kate Nicholson (Northumbria University)
Unravelling the mysteries of how the medieval monks produced their manuscripts is quite a tricky task – they didn’t leave a copy of their recipe book! Sampling from manuscripts is (rightly) forbidden so the only way to analyse them is by using spectroscopy. Until now this was a huge undertaking – moving a huge spectrometer is a mammoth task, and moving a priceless manuscript can cost millions in insurance. ‘Team pigment’ undeterred by this challenge have since developed portable equipment that they can take to the libraries and study the books in their natural environment. Over the past 2 years more than 80 manuscripts have been studied and the pigments used all those centuries ago revealed. Now is your chance to hear the story of the ancient books of Britain…..
Unravelling the mysteries of how the medieval monks produced their manuscripts is quite a tricky task – they didn’t leave a copy of their recipe book! Sampling from manuscripts is (rightly) forbidden so the only way to analyse them is by using spectroscopy. Until now this was a huge undertaking – moving a huge spectrometer is a mammoth task, and moving a priceless manuscript can cost millions in insurance. ‘Team pigment’ undeterred by this challenge have since developed portable equipment that they can take to the libraries and study the books in their natural environment. Over the past 2 years more than 80 manuscripts have been studied and the pigments used all those centuries ago revealed. Now is your chance to hear the story of the ancient books of Britain…..
